Several years ago, a friend decided she wanted to follow her passion. She loved the liberal arts and academe. She was a talented graphic designer, a great writer and the president of a student club. But the prospect of working a 9-to-5 job never interested her.

The war for talent shows no signs of letting up, even in sectors experiencing modest growth. One popular battle strategy is to institute programs aimed at “high potentials” – the people that companies believe may become their future leaders.

Steady, predictable growth is what every big company strives for and what investors prize above all else. Recently, some colleagues and I conducted research to find out just how difficult it is to achieve.

Jane Goodall set out into the Tanzanian rain forest 50 years ago to study chimpanzee behavior. Her research changed our understanding of our closest relatives’ capabilities, emotions and relationships and redefined what it means to be human. Later Goodall shifted her focus to saving chimps and their habitats. Her global nonprofit, the Jane Goodall Institute, helped pioneer conservation efforts that promote entrepreneurship among an endangered species’ human neighbors.